Digitimes Research: iPad Pro shipments to be less than 3 million units in 4Q15

Jim Hsiao, DIGITIMES Research, Taipei

Monday 14 September 2015

Apple introduced its largest iPad, the iPad Pro at its product launch conference in September; however, the device pairing with a keyboard and an iPad Pencil will make the overall price surpass US$1,000. This means its price/performance ratio is much weaker than that for the MacBook Air's or Microsoft's upcoming Surface Pro 4 with a similar price level. Since the supply of iPad Pro's panels also faces shortages, the device's shipments are expected to reach less than three million units in the fourth quarter.

A 32GB iPad Pro with a keyboard and an iPad Pencil is priced at US$1,067, while a 128GB MacBook Air is priced at US$899. Microsoft's upcoming Surface Pro 4 and a keyboard together will be priced at a similar level as the iPad Pro combo, but in terms of hardware performance and enterprise usage conveniences, the iPad Pro is much weaker.

iPad Pro's IGZO panel is currently supplied by Sharp only and LG Display will only be able to supply a small volume starting November, while supply from Samsung will begin in 2016. As a result, Apple is only able to start shipping the iPad Pro in November and its shipments will be between 2.5-3 million units in the fourth quarter of 2015, according to Digitimes Research.

In 2018, global server shipments will grow 8.5% to reach 13.73 million units. Digitimes Research estimates server shipments worldwide will grow at a CAGR of 6.5% during the period 2017-2022, with growth mainly driven by large-scale data centers and the China market.

Digitimes Research estimates total shipments of smartphone APs worldwide will grow 1.5% on year to 1.67 billion units in 2018. The slowing growth in the smartphone market means global smartphone AP shipments will only grow at a mild pace in the next few years, reaching 1.77 billion units in 2021.